Raising awareness and building pressure to end human rights abuses in the Philippines.
who we are
CHRP-UK is a UK-based volunteer network that stands with those facing repression in the Philippines. We work to support human rights defenders, trade unionists, and grassroots activists through advocacy, public awareness, and international solidarity.
Since 2006, CHRP-UK has worked to expose human rights abuses in the Philippines and build international pressure for justice. Through advocacy and collaboration, we connect UK communities with frontline struggles for accountability and lasting change.
By a Transport Union Activist On 23 August 2024, James Jazmines attended the 66th birthday dinner of his friend Felix Salaveria Jr. at a restaurant in Tabaco in Alabay Province,…
Press Statement May 18, 2024Brussels, Belgium (May 17-18) The International People’s Tribunal in Brussels heard harrowing testimony from victims and experts detailing widespread human rights abuses and violations of international…
WeekInRights@takeaction.hrw.org The Philippine Supreme Court issued a major ruling this week declaring “red-tagging” – accusing individuals and groups of supporting the country’s communist insurgency – a threat to people’s life, liberty, and…
Reference: Cristina Palabay, Karapatan Secretary General, +63917-3162831 Karapatan Public Information Desk, +63918-9790580 KARAPATAN scores new cases vs activists using twin terror laws KARAPATAN deplores the latest examples of the Marcos…
Press Release Contact: Danilova MolintasPhone: +639602315340Date: May 3, 2024 Kalikasan PNE condemns fabricated charges against anti-reclamation environmental defender ‘Ansie,’ other activists Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, May 3, 2024 — A…
April 28, 2024 Environmental Defenders Face Trumped-Up Financing Terrorism Charges. Kalikasan PNE and ENVIDEFCON condemn this.In an alarming development, two young human rights defenders from Quezon are now facing trumped-up…
A Southeast Asian nation of over 7,000 islands — rich in culture, natural beauty, and resilience — the Philippines is also home to deep inequalities and long-standing struggles for justice.
While key sectors like agriculture, construction, and retail trade have shrunk in economic output, they’ve seen some of the biggest job increases. Between January 2020 and March 2021, millions were pushed into these low-growth sectors — a sign of deepening economic hardship, not recovery.
Filipino applicants looking in a job fair. From the past 10 years alone, IBON estimates that the number of informal workers in 2012 was 18.2 million but grew to 20.6 million in 2022.
Workers work on the different section of a shoe factory in Marikina City on Wednesday, September 27, 2023. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signs the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act which he says the law will address the country’s underemployment, as well as upskill the Filipino workers.
Philippines, Urban poor threatened by evictions express solidarity with ‘familiar tale’ of Grenfell tragedy
Location of Philippines in Asia
Bustling Streets of Manila, Philippines
People Planting Rice on the Field
Top View Photo of Coron, Palawan Ocean During Daytime
While key sectors like agriculture, construction, and retail trade have shrunk in economic output, they’ve seen some of the biggest job increases. Between January 2020 and March 2021, millions were pushed into these low-growth sectors — a sign of deepening economic hardship, not recovery.
Filipino applicants looking in a job fair. From the past 10 years alone, IBON estimates that the number of informal workers in 2012 was 18.2 million but grew to 20.6 million in 2022.
Workers work on the different section of a shoe factory in Marikina City on Wednesday, September 27, 2023. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signs the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act which he says the law will address the country’s underemployment, as well as upskill the Filipino workers.
Philippines, Urban poor threatened by evictions express solidarity with ‘familiar tale’ of Grenfell tragedy
Location of Philippines in Asia
Bustling Streets of Manila, Philippines
People Planting Rice on the Field
Top View Photo of Coron, Palawan Ocean During Daytime
Geography & People
The Philippines is an archipelago of over 7,600 islands in Southeast Asia, home to more than 113 million people. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the region, with incredible cultural and linguistic diversity.
Economy & Inequality
Despite economic growth in recent years, millions of Filipinos remain in poverty. Agriculture, construction, and informal work dominate employment, while wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few powerful families.
Political Climate
The country has a history of authoritarian rule, including the Marcos dictatorship. In recent years, crackdowns on dissent, attacks on civil society, and militarised policing have intensified under laws framed as anti-terrorism or anti-drugs campaigns.
Resistance & Solidarity
From farmers and workers to students and indigenous communities, grassroots movements in the Philippines continue to fight for justice and human rights — often at great personal risk. International solidarity remains vital.
International organizations on Philippine human rights
On 18 July 2023, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “Court”), confirmed the authorization for the ICC Prosecutor to resume its investigations of the crime against humanity of murder in the Republic of the Philippines.
The Court dismissed the Philippines ground of appeal that the Court cannot exercise its jurisdiction over the Philippines situation because the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute. This was the final avenue of appeal for the Marcos-Duterte government in their attempt to evade prosecution for crimes against humanity.
In the Philippines, the criminalisation of activists through a sinister tactic known as ‘red-tagging’ is often used to intimidate, defame, and vilify legitimate activists for their work.
President Marcos needs to do more than issue statements about democracy and the rule of law to demonstrate a genuine commitment to human rights,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Without concrete action to break old patterns of abuses and secure accountability for past crimes, his words have little credibility.
UN experts* today expressed “grave disappointment” after a Philippine court denied bail to former senator Leila de Lima, prolonging her six-year detention even after key witnesses withdrew evidence against her.”
“We have long called for the immediate release of Leila de Lima,” the experts said. “The decision to deny bail comes after more than six years of arbitrary detention. It is high time for the administration of President Marcos Jr. to close this case once and for all, provide compensation and other reparations, and investigate the circumstances that allowed this to happen in the first place.
The world should be worried about the Marcos government bombing its own people.
Indigenous Peoples are common victims in the implementation of the counterinsurgency program [in the Philippines]. Indigenous organizations, communities, and IP rights defenders are being targeted, red-tagged and criminalized as communist fronts. Many indigenous leaders are vilified as terrorists through social media accounts of police and military units.
The Philippine Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Watch, a network of faith-based and human rights groups engaging in the UN UPR process, takes strong exception to the incredible remarks of Philippine Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla at the United Nations Human Rights Committee on red-tagging as a “part of democracy”.
We enjoin members of the UN Human Rights Committee and the international community to denounce red-tagging because it has no place in a democratic and civilized society.
The Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) stands in solidarity with Lumad and all Indigenous Peoples who are continuously subjected to criminalization, killings, and unabated attacks in the Philippines.
Threats and attacks, including killings, against left-wing political activists, environmental activists, community leaders, Indigenous peoples’ leaders, journalists, lawyers, and others rose in the past year. The government harassed journalists and media companies, including through politically motivated prosecutions and other legal action.
Civil society activists who speak out against this situation are labelled terrorists or communists, and face harassment, threats, and in some cases – death. Indigenous communities have been particularly targeted, and even the churches have not been spared.
Shockingly, over half of all reported killings last year occurred in just two countries: Colombia (peaking at 64) and the Philippines (rising from 30 in 2018 to 43 in 2019).
In the ITUC (International Trade Union Council) Report of 2020, the Philippines is included in the top 10 most dangerous countries in the world for workers. The Philippine trade union movement can attest to the alarming level of repression of workers’ rights in the country. There have been too many unexplained disappearances and killings of labor leaders and members.
Since the Government launched its campaign against illegal drugs in 2016, official figures indicate that at least 8,663 people have been killed, with some estimates putting the real toll at more than triple that number. The UN Human Rights Office has also documented that, between 2015 and 2019, at least 248 human rights defenders, legal professionals, journalists and trade unionists have been killed in relation to their work.
The dangers [of ‘red-tagging’] are evident. The vilification has often been followed by threats, unlawful surveillance, attacks, or even unlawful killing. It intimidates and chills freedom of expression, and suppresses legitimate activism, journalism, debate and criticism which are part and parcel of freedom of expression.
Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the increasing misuse of counter-terrorism laws by the Philippine government to crack down on development, humanitarian and human rights organizations. The administration of President Bongbong Marcos Jr must put an end to the targeting of these organizations.
